BerryDunn eyes further expansion, $80M in revenue by 2021
Photo / Tim Greenway
John Chandler, the managing principal at BerryDunn in Portland, expects to increase staffing at the firm's offices in Portland and Phoenix.
After opening a Phoenix office this January, Portland-based accounting and consulting firm BerryDunn is eyeing further expansion.
John Chandler, the firm’s president and managing principal, said he hopes to increase the staff in Phoenix from the initial eight to about 20 people within two to three years while adding staff at home. The firm may also open another office in a locale yet to be determined.
“As long as we can continue to grow in our consulting practice, and we’re looking to do that, we’re looking to add people here in Portland as well because we live here and we like it here,” he told Mainebiz. However, “to the extent that we can’t find the people or the clients’ opportunities are outside Maine, that’s where we’re going to go, because we know we can’t be dependent on growth within this region.”
Since 1999, when Chandler took the reins, the firm has grown from approximately 100 employees to 312, including the eight new hires in Arizona. He said the goal is to reach 360 employees and $80 million in revenue by 2021, compared to $57.7 million in fiscal year 2016.
The Portland office leads the pack with 186 employees, followed by Manchester, N.H., with 49; Bangor with 30: Charleston, W.Va., with 14; and Phoenix. Another 25 employees work remotely, and the firm has done work for clients in 48 states, including Alaska (but not yet Hawaii).
While audit and assurance account for 55% of BerryDunn’s service mix, consulting is growing the fastest.
Organic growth, recruiting challenges
BerryDunn’s growth has been almost all organic, with only two acquisitions in more than four decades.
“There are people who do mergers to get revenue,” said Chandler. “What we do is mergers to fill needs in terms of staffing, in terms of talent, in terms of people who would be very accretive to our overall plan and our goal.”
Chandler said the move out west was driven by consulting work for local government and state and Medicaid agencies in several states, for which Phoenix will become a regional hub.
“Phoenix is great growing area and will be our hub for serving our clients in the western half of the country,” he noted. “We also find that we’re able to attract staff. People like to live there, and we feel that we’ll be able to recruit people into that office.”
In Maine, BerryDunn faces the same workforce challenges as other large employers.
“It’s difficult to find experienced people for our traditional audit and tax practice areas,” said Chandler. “I think it’s because firms like ours are pretty good places to work, and so it’s rare that you can take an experienced person from your neighbor and have that all work out.”
On the other hand, he reported having great luck with qualified people who move to Maine for lifestyle reasons and New England college graduates hired as full-timers following internships.
Although BerryDunn does not have any offices abroad, it does work on behalf of foreign companies — mainly from Canada — doing business in the United States. “We’ll work with anyone that has needs that our skill set fits,” said Chandler.
Most Recent
Most Recent
Comments